Hanging – Better Shoulder and Spine Health

Let Gravity Do the Work!
When I first started hanging, my goals were simple: decompress the spine and open up my shoulders. After 3 years of daily hanging, my friends say I look taller, my low back is pain-free, and my shoulders have never felt better.

In this short video I go over three types of hanging from the arms: prone grip, close grip, and eagle grip. I’ll typically engage in the prone grip first to allow my spine to loosen up. Before workouts I’ll go into the close grip to help my t-spine extension. After these, I’ll go into the eagle grip to stretch my shoulder’s external rotators that get so tight after kettlebell training. In total I’ll do 3-6 sets of hanging depending on the day’s tightness.

An inversion table works just fine but I tend to use my gravity boots when wanting further spinal decompression. Make sure and completely relax the body when hanging upside down. You can use a dumbbell or kettlebell to further stretch the body or just allow gravity to do the work. Sometimes I’ll use the sides of the squat rack to twist my body and stretch out the lateral chains in my body.

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